Virginia Blackburn

Boys must be taught how to be a real man

AT FIRST glance it looks a little unusual.

Children need a male role model in family life [GETTY - PIC POSED BY MODELS]

Boys in Chase High School, Essex, are going to be given lessons in how to be a man. They will be taught how to behave towards a girl as well as how to be presentable and manage their money. On second glance this seems like an absolutely admirable initiative and one that should be replicated throughout the country because the real problem is that boys often have no man at home to act as a role model.

Many gain their knowledge of women through watching porn and learn precious little else from any other male because there isn't anyone around to teach them. Horrifyingly in some parts of the country three out of four families are headed by single parents and of course the vast majority of these will be women. It is high time that we finally recognised that men are absolutely crucial in family life for boys and girls alike.

I don't have children but I do have two nephews and three godsons all thankfully with very involved fathers. It is patently obvious just how much those men are needed. Whether it's kicking a football about or encouraging boys to do their homework young men need other males to learn how to be a decent male. They need male discipline too and it is ignoring thousands of years of human history to pretend otherwise. I have never forgotten the story of a herd of elephants that ran destructively wild in South Africa - the reason was that the elder males had been killed by poachers and there was no one around to control the young.

Young men need other males to learn how to be a decent male [GETTY - PIC POSED BY MODELS]

I don't have children but I do have two nephews and three godsons all thankfully with very involved fathers

As a society we have undermined and marginalised men in families and listened to fatuous remarks from the likes of JK Rowling, who doesn't like the Tories because they "demonise" single mothers when all they are doing is pointing out the blooming obvious: that children need both parents.

Chase High School recognises this. It's time the rest of us did.

JK Rowling has made fatuous remarks about Tory attitudes to single parents [GETTY]